Biogenic substrate benefits activated sludge in acclimation to a xenobiotic.

Activated sludge that originated from a biogenic fed-batch reactor under steady-state was re-cultivated with the same biogenic substrates to test the changes in the sludge's performance in acclimation and degradation of a xenobiotic. Re-cultivations with varying biogenic concentrations were conducted at time points ranging from 16 d before to 4 d after the acclimation reactions. Biogenic re-cultivation energizes sludge cells thereby benefiting the re-cultivated biomass by shortening its acclimation lag time. Lag time increases on both sides of the re-cultivation time where lag has been shortened the most: (1) in short re-cultivation times before and after acclimation reactions, high concentrations of new or unfinished biogenic substrates cause diauxic growth that delays acclimation; (2) in long re-cultivation times, the re-cultivated biomass loses its energy-rich advantage. Both these lag lengthening situations have their worst cases in which acclimation lag times become longer than that of the original sludge, thus counterbalancing the benefits.

Bioavailability evaluation of naphthalene in soil using persulfate oxidation and ultrasonic extraction method.

Bioavailability is defined as the fraction of a soil contaminant readily available for microbial degradation and for naphthalene it could be estimated by conventional exhaustive extraction methods. In this study, a novel method that employed persulfate oxidation in combination with ultrasonic extraction (POUSE) was developed. Three parameters, temperature, duration of persulfate oxidation, and the ratio of persulfate to soil organic matter (2S,082 /SOM; g g-1), were investigated to obtain an optimum operating conditions. Under the condition, naphthalene bioavailability estimated by the POUSE method was verified and compared with other three exhaustive methods i.e. sonicator, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and soxhlet extraction (SE). When the S2,O(8)2-/SOM ratio was controlled at 11.6 g g-1, the optimum operating conditions of the POUSE method were 70 degreesC and 3 hr, for the temperature and duration. Under these conditions, the residual naphthalene concentrations were correlated well with the residual naphthalene concentrations for both the cases of freshly spiked and aged soils. By contrast, the sonicator, SFE, and the SE overestimated the naphthalene bioavailability since these three methods extracted naphthalene much more than that of biodegradation test. These results demonstrated that the POUSE could estimate more precisely the naphthalene bioavailability.

Reliability of solid phase microextraction in estimating bioavailability of pyrene in soil.

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography was employed to estimate bioavailability of pyrene in soils with different properties of textures, organic matter contents (SOM) and aging periods. Experimental results indicated that biodegradation rates increased from 0.10 (sandy loam) to 0.15 (silty loam) microg g-1 hr1. By contrast, biodegradation rate decreased from 0.10(1.3% SOM) to 0.04 (7.6% SOM) microg g-1hr1. The amounts of pyrene biodegraded decreased 27% when SOM was modified from 1.3 to 7.6%, indicating that distributions of pyrene in soils at biodegradation end points were affected by the SOM. Sequestration as measured by sonication extraction had evidently occurred in aged soil samples. SPME measurements slightly overestimated the amount of pyrene degraded by indigenous and seeded microorganisms, in soils with the different properties (correlation coefficient, R2= 0.74). The present study demonstrates that the SPME method can not replace biodegradation tests commonly used for predicting bioremediation efficacy.

Xenobiotic substrate reduces yield of activated sludge in a continuous flow system.

The biomass yield of a continuous flow activated sludge system varied when the system treated influent containing different compositions of biogenic and xenobiotic substrates. Both the biogenic substrate and a test xenobiotic 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) were degraded at steady-state activated sludge operations. The true yields, determined from steady-state activated sludge treatment performances, were at the maximum and the minimum when the activated sludge treated the influent of sole biogenic substrate and sole 2,4-D, respectively. The minimum yield was 56% of the maximum. Yield reduction between the maximum and the minimum was proportional to the concentration of 2,4-D in the influent. This trend of yield reduction suited a model that describes the metabolic uncoupling effect of 2,4-D on the sludge's degradation of the substrates. The model function variable was defined as the ratio of 2,4-D to biogenic COD concentrations in the influent.

Estimation of bioavailability and potential risks of naphthalene in soils with solid phase microextraction.

A series of batch experiments were conducted to observe the variations of bioavailability of naphthalene in different types of soil with indigenous microorganisms. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was employed to estimate the bioavailability of naphthalene in the soils. Various soil properties were attained by artificially modifying soil organic matter (SOM) with the addition of bagasse compost and textures with the addition of original silt and clay to determine the correlation between the amount of biodegraded naphthalene after 300 h and the amount of extractable naphthalene by SPME. Experimental results indicated that the biodegradation rate increased from 0.30 (sandy loam) to 0.48 (silty loam) µg g(-1) h(-1) when soils had more silt/clay. In contrast, the biodegradation rate slightly decreased from 0.30 (1.3% SOM) to 0.20 (5.2% SOM) µg g(-1) h(-1) when the SOM was high. Distributions of naphthalene in soils after biodegradation were affected by the addition of bagasse compost. It showed that the bioavailability of naphthalene in soils decreased with an increase in SOM. Sequestration as measured by ultrasonic extractability evidently occurred within 4 months in aged soil samples. However, the amounts extracted by sonication after 4 and 16 months of aging did not statistically differ from each other. The SPME measurements correlated well with the amount of biodegraded naphthalene by indigenous microorganisms. Results of this study demonstrate that SPME is a promising method to estimate the bioremediation efficacy of naphthalene-contaminated soils with various properties.

Continuous dechlorination of tetrachloroethene in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.

Influences of hydraulic retention time (HRT) on dechlorination of tetrachloroethene (PCE) were investigated in an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor inoculated with anaerobic granular sludge non-pre-exposed to chlorinated compounds. PCE was introduced into the reactor at a loading rate of 3 mg/l d. PCE removal increased from 51+/-5% to 87+/-3% when HRT increased from 1 to 4 d, corresponding to an increase in the PCE biotransformation rate from 10.5+/-2.3 to 21.3+/-3.7 micromol/d. A higher ethene production rate, 0.9+/-0.2 micromol/d, was attained without accumulation of dichloroethenes at the HRT of 4 d. Dehalococcoides-like species were detected in sludge granules by fluorescence in situ hybridization, with signal strength in proportion to the extent of PCE dechlorination.

Emission factors and characteristics of criteria pollutants and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a freeway tunnel study.

Carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO(x)), hydrocarbon (HC), sulfur oxide (SO(2)), particulate matter <10 microm (PM(10)), and 57 VOC species of emissions were confirmed in a freeway tunnel in southern Taiwan. Emission factors were 1.89 (CO), 0.73 (NO(x)), 0.46 (HC), 0.02 (SO2) and 0.06 (PM(10)) g/km-vehicle for all vehicle fleets. Heavy-duty truck and trailer vehicles contributed 20% of the emissions on workdays and 9.5% on weekends in this study. Paraffins and aromatics were the main VOC groups in the tunnel. Isopentane, toluene, n-pentane, isoprene, 2,3-dimethylbutane, acetone, 2-methylpentane, 1-hexene, 1,2,4-trimethybenzene, 1-butene and propene emissions were the major VOC species. Their emission factors were over 10 mg/km-vehicle. Rainfall and high humidity in the tunnel could have reduced the VOC concentrations and increased the portion of aromatics. In addition to paraffins, olefins, and aromatic compounds, oxygenated compounds (i.e., acetone) were found. The pollutant ratios between the inside center and the outside of the tunnel were about 2-3 for CO, SO2, and PM(10) and 42 for NO(x). In addition, the emission factors of the vehicles could reflect real-world vehicle emissions on the highway and be used as baseline information for development of a vehicle control strategy.

Adsorption characteristics of benzene on biosolid adsorbent and commercial activated carbons.

This study selected biosolids from a petrochemical waste-water treatment plant as the raw material. The sludge was immersed in 0.5-5 M of zinc chloride (ZnCl2) solutions and pyrolyzed at different temperatures and times. Results indicated that the 1-M ZnCl2-immersed biosolids pyrolyzed at 500 degrees C for 30 min could be reused and were optimal biosolid adsorbents for benzene adsorption. Pore volume distribution analysis indicated that the mesopore contributed more than the macropore and micropore in the biosolid adsorbent. The benzene adsorption capacity of the biosolid adsorbent was 65 and 55% of the G206 (granular-activated carbon) and BPL (coal-based activated carbon; Calgon, Carbon Corp.) activated carbons, respectively. Data from the adsorption and desorption cycles indicated that the benzene adsorption capacity of the biosolid adsorbent was insignificantly reduced compared with the first-run capacity of the adsorbent; therefore, the biosolid adsorbent could be reused as a commercial adsorbent, although its production cost is high.